Speeches

The European Union is and must remain a union of peace. All EU Member States together already have the second highest military expenditure in the world. I am therefore extremely critical of the additional militarisation of the EU, including increases in defence spending – which are also largely bypassing the European Parliament and its scrutiny function. As a member of a neutral state, I would also like to stress the role that neural countries can play in regards to mediation, dialogue, civil crisis aid, humanitarian engagement and reconstruction efforts after a war. We need an additional investment Programme for climate and social infrastructure, not new military armament!

The mission and expectation of citizens and the European Parliament to the European Council are clear: The convening of a Convention for Treaty Amendments to implement the proposals of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Obviously, the Council does not show any particular interest in the Conference on the Future of Europe. Now it will be up to the Czech Presidency to make nails with heads! In any case, we Greens will continue to keep up the pressure to ensure that the proposals from the conference really come to fruition. We are committed to the participants of the conference, together with them, to continue to work loudly for the implementation of the proposals.

Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, it’s a very crucial moment for gender equality. I am a member of the EP delegation to CSU since 2016 and for this year, the task is clear, I guess. We have to secure the last years’ achievements, especially on SRHR, intersectionality and the important role of civil society organisations as well as our fight against the backlash. It is of utmost importance that we finally advance towards a feminist foreign policy, as supported by the European Parliament in the GAP III. This year’s priority theme of the CSW on women’s poverty and the review theme on public services are long overdue. According to the fact that 383 million women and girls live in extreme poverty and lack social infrastructure. The persistent gender pay and pension gaps, precarious employment and the underrepresentation of women in decision making show systematic inequalities that have dramatically worsened due to the multiple crises we face, such as climate change, rising costs of living, the pandemic and wars. For me, it’s obvious: we urgently need a decent minimum income for anyone and institutionalised gender budgeting across all policy areas. Therefore, the strong EP resolution we vote on tomorrow is needed. And as usual, as also my dear colleague Robert Biedrón emphasised already, I want to point out the absolute necessity of ensuring the full involvement of the European Parliament and the FEMM Committee in the decision-making process before and during the CSW in order to strengthen our collective voice and shape together the final conclusions of the CSW.

Mr President! Dear colleagues, what should really make up our work is to put the human being at the centre. Unfortunately, that has not been achieved in this report. I have been working in this field for many years with NGOs and sex workers associationsFor a long time in local politics. Our hopes for a fair and correct and balanced report on the situation of sex work in the EU were unfortunately disappointed. Amnesty International, La Strada International, Illegal Europe, Human Rights Watch and many other NGOs have all sent us an open letter asking us to vote against the report. I will vote against the report because criminalisation is not a solution in this area. Criminalization only pushes sex workers further into illegality and unprotected and dangerous conditions. We want decriminalization instead of stigmatization and marginalization. We are also following this path in Austria. We want protection, not punishment – especially for those who are in a precarious situation. And the prohibition on the use of sexual services is not capable of providing such protection. We want a social union with access to social rights, the labour market, housing and health services for all, especially sex workers and vulnerable groups. A Europe-wide minimum income and livelihood-enhancing jobs would be a stronger exit aid than any ban. Sex workers' rights are women's rights, they are human rights. The EU must guarantee them.

Madam President, Commission, Council, as rapporteur for FEMM Opinion on the discharge 2021 for the EU general budget, section three, I would like to thank the rapporteurs for including the concerns of the FEMM Committee into the resolution. The application of gender mainstreaming in the EU budgetary procedure is still weak and there is a lack of gender equality spending targets and indicators in the Union’s programmes. We are far away from real gender budgeting, although we of course acknowledge the efforts of the Commission. We need concrete improvements of gender mainstreaming objectives and gender-disaggregated data if we want to achieve a gender equal budget. And still we need more means for the Daphne programme against gender-based violence. Regarding the discharge 2021 of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), I strongly support the assessment to grant the Director of the EIGE the discharge and the explicit recommendation in our resolution to allocate more staff to the institute because EIGE plays a key role in the promotion of gender equality in the European Union.

Madam President, Council, Commissioner, today, during the ceremony of the International Women’s Day, we had the honour to listen to honourable and great Shirin Ebadi, an inspiration for us all. But equal to so many that stand up and fight for women’s rights, for sexual and reproductive health and rights, she lives in exile. And this week, as it was already mentioned, the Polish women’s rights defender, Justyna Wydrzyńska, was sentenced to eight months’ community service for having helped a fellow woman to access abortion care. Dear all, we must be very clear on that: we, as the European Union, have to protect women who are being prosecuted for helping to carry out or even just advocating the right to abortion care and other sexual and reproductive health and rights. And the number of those that are threatened is rising. And following the recent mission of the FEMM Committee to the US and the CSW, where I see many colleagues here, after the many talks we had on SRHR with NGOs, with experts, it’s so crystal clear: the European Union must be a front fighter in defending women’s rights and the free access to abortion all over the world – a fight where we have to be at the forefront, that women and girls worldwide can rely on us.

Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, in a few weeks, we as the European Parliament go to the 67th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), i.e. the COP for gender equality, the most important event to fight for women’s rights, with representatives from 189 countries. We will meet stakeholders and advocates from all over the world to prove that we as the EU are a reliable partner on empowering women and girls in all their diversity, and support progressive alliances and policies. We as the European Parliament must be loud and clear against the worldwide backlash that was already mentioned, for example, on SRH or on gender—based violence. We have to stand up clearly for peace and security, fight against inequalities and against the feminisation of poverty. To ensure that the EU shows strong leadership on these issues at the CSW and takes a unified position, the delegation of the European Parliament has to increase its formal role during the negotiations and ensure its full involvement in the decision-making process as well as adequate information. As I was already part of the delegation many, many times, I can fully support the words of Robert Biedroń on the involvement of the European Parliament in the process. We have been fighting for this for years now and I think the strong resolution we vote on this week underlines our deep commitment. This year’s focus lies on the digital gender gap that was already said: innovation and technological change. Girls worldwide face massive gender specific barriers in access to education, as well as a huge gender digital divide. So we have to strengthen our fight for a gender—responsive digital transformation at the CSW, especially equal access for women and girls to the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) sector and fight against cyber violence. Only through education and inclusion, social inclusion and inclusion in decision-making will gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls be achieved.

Mr President, Commissioner, Mr Council representative! For us Greens, freedom of movement in Europe and solidarity are our top priorities. As has already been said, the Schengen Agreement is a great achievement and not a bargaining chip. It means protecting freedom of movement and is one of the cornerstones of the European Union. This symbol of European integration must not be lightly restricted. I also stand here as an Austrian Member of the European Parliament and I would like to express my solidarity with my colleagues from Bulgaria and Romania. Neither at European nor national level do we Greens understand the Austrian Minister of the Interior's decision to suddenly block the Schengen enlargement around Romania and Bulgaria. We do not share his view. Domestic policy calculus must not play a role in decisions of such a large dimension. There is a clear need for European solidarity here, as you said, Commissioner: Divided we are weak, together we are strong.

Madam President, Commissioner, Council, on behalf of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), I would very much like to thank the rapporteurs and the Budget Committee for their very good work. As was already mentioned, the circumstances for this year’s budgetary procedure are very challenging, and I very much acknowledge the efforts to achieve a very good compromise. The FEMM Committee delivered a strong opinion, and I am glad that some crucial elements are reflected in the Parliament’s overall amendments in the budgetary resolution. First of all, the proposed increase of the Daphne Strand by EUR 2 million above the draft budget is a clear acknowledgement of the importance of tackling the alarming problem of gender based violence. Although this is considerably less than our Committee would have liked to see, it is a crucial signal to increase the funding for the Daphne Strand. Secondly, the very good wording regarding the Commission’s efforts for a methodology to measure the gender impact of the Union’s funding. The budgetary resolution includes concrete demands on measures, on scope and on gender disaggregated data. This type of scrutiny is very important, and Parliament’s strong stance on the EU4 Health programme and the inclusion of our Committee’s perspective that universal health coverage across the Union needs to include quality access to sexual and reproductive health and rights is necessary to involve. Lastly, specific support for equality for civil society organisations defending women’s rights and the rights of the LGBTIQ community under heading six ‘Neighbourhood and the World’ is very important, and I would like to stress that this will be crucial to defend in the upcoming negotiations.

Madam President, Commissioner, dear Minister! Three months ago, as part of the mission of the Committee on Regional Development, I visited a Roma settlement in eastern Slovakia. Younous Omarjee has already mentioned this. What we found there made us stunned: at least 300 people without running water, without sewage and waste systems, with limited access to healthcare and education, the children no possibility of transport to schools, and that in the middle of Europe. And it's a difference whether we're debating it here or if you see it with my own eyes. This settlement in Slovakia, as has been repeatedly said today, is not an isolated case. There are still far too many so-called segregated places where people have to live in life-threatening conditions. And why? Because individual local politicians are often reluctant to implement so-called pro-Roma projects, even though enough EU funds are available. And why? Because antigypsyism and structural racism are still widespread. It is a vicious circle from which it is difficult for the people concerned, European citizens, to escape, and this must not be the case. This is a disgrace to Europe. Social and structural discrimination against Roma and Sinti must finally be tackled decisively. And a non-binding EU framework strategy and a Commission recommendation are not enough. There is a need to put more pressure on Member States and to monitor the implementation of the strategies also at local level. And we need to see that EU money really gets to where it is most needed.

Madam President, the US Supreme Court is not only affecting women and girls in the US; it’s affecting the whole world. It’s affecting us. It’s about human rights, bodily autonomy, liberty and freedom. Despite many decades of progress, sexual and reproductive rights still remain out of reach for many across the world. And after this potential overturn in the US, it means around 170 million more. We have to face discrimination and inequality in the implementation of sexual and reproductive rights, persist, extend and intensify. And that’s unacceptable. And it should be unacceptable for all of us in the European Parliament. Also within the European Union, we are facing alarming developments and steps backwards regarding fundamental rights for women and other groups like LGBTIQ, people of colour, immigrants and refugees. And we say clearly today: abortion must be safe, it must be legal, it must be affordable, and it must be available. Abortion is a basic healthcare, and the World Health Organization guidelines are very clear: access to abortion is protected, and it has to be respected by anyone, anywhere and anytime.

Madam President, it has been a very long process from the first announcement of the conference to where we are today, with a concrete set of proposals together with the citizens and institutions for more Europe, but also for another Europe. And as a member of the working group, a stronger economy, social justice and jobs, I really think we can be proud of what we have achieved together and also of the strong role of the European Parliament in this process. I am personally very impressed at how strong the wish of the European citizens is for a true social Union with a common Europe-wide minimum standards and a social feel to leave no one behind. Framework for minimum income and wages, guaranteeing gender equality and equal access for all to public services, minimum pensions, social housing, fight against youth unemployment, a ban of unpaid internships – and last but not least, of course, a strong focus on the green and sustainable economy and green jobs. We now simply have to deliver on that, colleagues, we have to deliver on that. And the citizens have to and can count on us. We have to ensure these proposals we formulated together with the citizens must not disappear after the first round of applause on 9 May, and that they are taken seriously. And this is why we, as Greens, strongly support a convention as soon as possible, including Treaty changes, to move forward to a social Union, to a sustainable Union, and to a gender equal Union.

Madam President, dear Mr Commissioner, dear Mr Rapporteur, dear colleagues, on behalf of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, I would like to thank you very much for the constructive cooperation on the guidelines for the 2023 budget, Section III. Gender equality is a core value of the European Union with significant potential for the EU budget that is still not fully used, as even the European Court of Auditors concluded in its special report recently. The FEMM Committee therefore adopted a comprehensive opinion with several suggestions for the Parliament’s guidelines. Among them, a strong commitment to gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting in all stages of the budget cycle; the systematic collection, reporting and evaluation of gender—disaggregated data to accompany a new Commission methodology to measure gender—relevant expenditure; a call for significant funding for the Daphne programme, in particular in the context of the pandemic and gender—based violence; and last but not least, forced investments in public services, care and gender—responsive cohesion policy. Besides the general rapporteur, I would also like to thank all of my colleagues in the Budget Committee that worked on strengthening the text from a gender—equality perspective. I am very much looking forward to our continued cooperation to make the 2023 budget a significant budget from the perspective of gender equality.